By DANNY MINTON An old train was crawling slowly through the countryside when it suddenly came to a complete stop. The solitary traveler in the carriage, a salesman, asked the conductor why they had stopped. The conductor said, “Nothing to be concerned about, sir. There’s a cow on the tracks.” About ten minutes later, the train started again, but after

By DANNY MINTON Frustrated and depressed, Elijah made his way to Mt. Horeb, the mountain where Moses had received the commandments from God almost 600 years before. It hurt him that the people of Israel failed to listen to the message from God and had turned their backs on Him. Now, feeling alone and in a state of depression, Elijah

By DANNY MINTON “Tomorrow morning,” the surgeon began, “I’ll open up your heart …”  “You’ll find Jesus there,” the boy interrupted. The surgeon looked up, annoyed. “I’ll cut your heart open,” he continued, “to see how much damage has been done …” “But when you open my heart, you’ll find Jesus there.” The surgeon looked to the parents, who sat

By DANNY MINTON In the movie “Fiddler on the Roof,” Tevya and Golde have been married for 25 years and have the following conversation after learning their daughter was marrying for love. Tevye: It’s a new world. A new world. Love. Golde, do you love me?Golde: Do I what? Tevye: Do you love me?Golde: Do I love you? With our

By DANNY MINTON Once upon a time, there lived a man who wanted a lemon tree. He loved the smell of the tree blossoms, the scent of lemons, and the taste of a cold glass of lemonade. He decided that he had to have his own trees, so he traveled to the local nursery and picked out two young trees.

By DANNY MINTON I once heard the fable of an eagle who was envious of another larger eagle who could fly much higher than he could. The only way to be the best eagle again was to have the larger eagle killed. So, one day, the eagle went to a bow hunter and showed him the grand prize he could

By DANNY MINTON A discolored sheet dated fifty-seven years ago lay in a desk drawer atop some papers. In bold letters, the heading read, “Selective Service System: NOTICE TO RESISTANT TO APPEAR FOR MEDICAL INTERVIEW.” The first line proclaimed, “You are hereby directed to report for a medical interview at the place and time designated below. Failure to comply with

By DANNY MINTON One afternoon I called the phone company to check on an issue with my bill. It was about a quarter before 5:00 when I called and was put on hold by their computer. The wait was to be several minutes, and intertwined with the music was an occasional “We’re sorry for your wait. Someone will be with

By DANNY MINTON A few weeks ago, I had a conversation with a minister from another church background different from mine. He was twenty-five to thirty years younger than me and had been in ministry for twenty years. He told me he was considering quitting the full-time ministry and thought about doing something else. I asked him what was causing